On 14 August 2026, Qatar's Ministry of Public Health added Kazakhstan's KazStandart to its official list of authorised Halal bodies. The news is a practical reminder: Qatar, like all Gulf markets, only accepts certificates issued by bodies on its list. For an Italian company that wants to export, choosing the certification body is not a bureaucratic detail — it is the precondition for entering the market.
On 14 August 2026, Qatar's Ministry of Public Health updated its Authorized List of Halal Bodies, adding KazStandart, Kazakhstan's Halal certification body. The news, confirmed by The Halal Times through a direct check of the official list, seems to concern a country far from Italy. In reality, it highlights a mechanism that affects any Italian food company wanting to sell in Qatar: the Gulf state does not automatically recognise every Halal certificate in the world, only those issued by bodies that appear on its approved list.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) take a similar approach: each competent authority maintains a register of foreign Halal certification bodies considered reliable. A product accompanied by a certificate signed by a body not on that list is held at customs, regardless of the quality of the product itself or the correctness of the production process.
This means that, even before setting up the recipe, the technical data sheet or the label, an Italian company must check whether the body it intends to approach is recognised in the destination country. Choosing an unrecognised certification body means bearing the cost of adapting production without then being able to sell.
Not all Halal certificates carry the same weight in import markets. Each importing country decides independently which foreign bodies to accept, on the basis of bilateral agreements, inspections and technical assessments. A body recognised in Malaysia may not be recognised in Saudi Arabia, and vice versa. The number of countries in which a body is accepted is therefore a direct indicator of how large the market reachable with that certificate is.
For an Italian company that wants to serve several Islamic markets with a single certification process, choosing a body with a broad portfolio of recognitions is a strategic decision, not just an administrative one.
HQC Italia is recognised by the competent authorities of Saudi Arabia (SASO and SFDA), the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf countries (GAC and EIAC), as well as Malaysia (JAKIM), Indonesia (MUI and BPJPH), Singapore (MUIS) and Thailand (CICOT), for a total of more than 50 Islamic countries. This means that an HQC-certified Italian company can submit its customs documentation in these markets with the certainty that the certificate will be accepted by the local authorities.
The Qatar case illustrates the logic of the system well: as new bodies are added to or removed from national lists, companies that have chosen a body with established recognitions do not have to chase every update. The coverage is already in place.
If you are considering exporting food products to Qatar or other Gulf countries, this is the route to follow:
It is worth noting that the August 2026 news from the Gulf captures a region on the move: tensions linked to the conflict with Iran, adjustments to energy strategies, infrastructure projects such as the Abu Dhabi-Dubai high-speed railway. In this scenario, Gulf markets remain among the world's leading importers of Halal-certified food, precisely because they produce internally only a limited share of what they consume. For Italian food companies, this represents a structural window of opportunity, independent of short-term fluctuations.
HQC Italia has been operating since 1983 and is the first Halal certification body founded in Europe. It provides a free quote within 24 hours. If you are considering access to the Qatari, Saudi or Emirati market, the first step is to request a quote, together with information on the applicable requirements and the timing of the process. Contact us to get started.
Source: The Halal Times — Kazakhstan's KazStandart Now on Qatar's Halal Certifier List, 14 August 2026.
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